Karl Kobler will be back on K2 in 2004. Karl Kobler led
and unsuccessful expedition in 2003.

9. Swiss/Italian K2 Expedition 2004

Mr. Karl Kobler

K2 8611m

Coming on 6/9/2004

Members 20

The
local name of K2 is Chogori, which in Balti
language means the king of mountains. This name
is little known outside of Pakistan. It is,
therefore, desirable that - K2 be used.

K2
has variously been described as the
"awesome", "killer" and
"savage" mountain. This is because of it's massiveness
in size and the numerous unsuccessful attempts made
on it by various expeditions, including many American
expeditions, who have made quite a few unsuccessful attempts.

K2
is a rocky mountain up to 6000 meters, beyond which it
becomes an ocean of snow. The K2
peak is situated on the Pak-China border in the mighty
Karakoram range. The traditional route to its base camp
goes from Skardu, which is linked with Islamabad by a
good road.
From Skardu the route goes via Shigar-Dassu-Askole up
to Concordia over the Baltoro glacier. The exact
height of the peak is 8,611 meters/28,251 ft.

It
was in 1856, when the British were enforcing their
control over India, provoking the
1857-War-of-lndependence, that a young Lieutenant of
the Royal Engineers, T.G. Montgomerie, was quietly
busy in surveying the mountains of Kashmir. During
this survey he saw, in the far distance, a tall and
conspicuous mountain in the direction of the
Karakorams and immediately named it K1 ('K' stands for
Karakorams). Later on, it turned out to be the
beautiful mountain of Hushe valley in Khaplu area of
Baltistan, called Masherbrum by locals. He also saw
another tall and dominating summit behind K1 and named
it K2, which turned out to be "Chogori". The
name K2, however, still stands.

Lieutenant
Montgomerie was a good surveyor. He was the person who
planned and organized the survey of Kashmir. He was
also an unofficial political adviser to Gulab Singh,
the then Maharaja of Kashmir. After Gulab Singh's
death in 1857, Montgomerie continued his survey work
as he carried the same influence with Maharaja Ranjit
Singh, the successor of Gulab Singh. Montgomerie
trained many locals in surveying. His students
did good reconnaissance work in remote areas forbidden
to foreigners because of local suspicions. A
famous but unfortunate student of his was Muhammad
Hameed.

In
1860, Captain Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen, of the
Survey of India, went to the Baltistan area and surveyed
the famous Shigar and Saltoro valleys. This greatly
contributed to the knowledge of the area. He was an
officer in the 24th Foot Battalion, later the South
Wales Borderers, and had also served in the Second
Anglo- Burmese War in 1852. Earlier, he had joined
Montgomerie at a survey station in Kashmir in 1857. He
also surveyed the Kajnag range in southern Kashmir and
was the first to put Gulmarg on the map. In 1858-59,
he surveyed eastern Kashmir including Jammu. In 1861,
he started from Skardu and entered Braldu valley from
Skoro-La (5,043m). He then climbed and surveyed the Chogo-lungma, Kero Lungma, Biafo and Panmah glaciers.
It was from Kero Lungma that Godwin-Austen
climbed the Nushik pass (4,990m/1
6,371 ft) and is stated to have entered the 53-km-long
Hispar glacier. He was perhaps the first European to
reach it. He, however, did not survey it. He was
considered as one of the greatest mountaineers of the
day, had great power of endurance and was immensely
brave. It is a myth that the K2 peak, which was
erroneously called Godwin-Austen peak, was discovered
by him. It is, however, a fact that he explored the
gateway to K2 (the Baltoro glacier), along with famous
glaciers including Godwin-Austen glacier. This was
indeed his outstanding contribution to the geography
of the area.

Another
famous explorer of the area was Francis Younghusband
(later knighted), a noted soldier and thrill-seeker.
Showing his courage and tenacity in 1887, he crossed
the Gobi desert from Peking and entered India by crossing
Mustagh pass. It was during this journey that he saw
K2. In this way he was the first European to cross
Mustagh pass. He was also the first European to set
eyes on K2 from the northern side. His guide on this
inward journey was a former resident of Askole
village, situated at the start of Baltoro glacier, who
had been living on the other side of the mountain for
a very long time. When he entered the village of
Askole with his guide, Younghusband was extended due
courtesies. His guide was, however, looked down
upon because he had shown a foreigner the possible
route of invasion. Subsequently in 1903-4, Sir
Francis Younghusband became the head of the famous
mission to Tibet.

It
was probably for the first time in 1902 that an organized
expedition of Oscar J.L. Eckenstein traveled to K-2 from Baltoro glacier. The expedition
was without any guide. Its aim was to explore
approaches to the mountain and possibly have a try on
the peak. It was, however, harsh weather which
prevented it from attempting the peak. The party,
however collected useful information about the
upper Godwin-Austen glacier which was used as a
stepping stone by expeditions in later years. Two
members of the expedition - one a Swiss by the name of
Dr. Jules Jacot Guillarmot and the other an Austrian
by the name of Dr. V. Wesseley - succeeded in reaching
6523 meters (21,400ft) on the north-eastern ridge of K-2.
The party also ascended Skyang La (6150 meters) to
ascertain climbing possibilities of Skyang Kangri peak
(7544 meters). Eckenstein was the first mountaineer who
applied the principles of engineering to
mountaineering and its equipment in Pakistan.

CopyrightęBilly
Pierson

In
1909, a big Italian expedition under the leadership of
resolute Luigi Amadeo Giuseppe (Duke of Abruzzi) the
grandson of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy,
reconnoitred K2. Its members produced a very good
account of the expedition with photographs and
accurate maps of Baltoro area. The Duke, however,
rejected the southern and western ridges of the
mountain for a climb. His party attempted the peak
from the south-east ridge-which later came to be known
as Abruzzi ridge - but could not proceed beyond 5560
meters because of problems with porters. The
party, however, carried out a thorough reconnaissance
of K2 from south to north-east. Vittono Sella, a
photographer and a climber, accompanied the Duke on
this expedition. Sella pass, near Godwin-Austen
glacier, is named after him.

Two
famous British mountaineers, Harold William Tilman and
Eric Earle Shipton, explored and surveyed the north
face of K2 and its subsidiary glaciers in 1937.
Actually they were on a survey mission to Shaksgam
valley when they also visited the Trango and Sarpo
Laggo glaciers. They also explored and surveyed the
famous Skamri glacier. Tilman was a famous explorer,
mountaineer, sailor and writer. He also distinguished
himself as a planter in Kenya.

Shipton,
on the other hand, was one of the significant
explorers of the present century. He was Tilman's
companion on most of the expeditions. Shipton was also
Consul-General of India in Kashgar in 1940-42 and then
in 1946-48.

In
1938, the American Alpine Club sponsored a
reconnaissance party for a visit to K2 area. The party
reached a height of 7925 meters after setting up
eight camps. When compared with the heights climbed by
previous expeditions, this seems to be a considerable
advancement. Famous American mountaineers like Dr.
Charles Houston and Robert Bates were in this party.
Six Sherpas from Nepal were also on this expedition as
porters etc. After a proper reconnaissance of the
routes leading to K-2, the party rejected the
north-west and north-east routes. Instead, it selected
the south-east ridge (Abruzzi ridge). It was the
shortage of food supplies that forced Houston and
Petzoldt to return to lower altitudes. In the opinion
of the party it was through this ridge that K2 peak
could be climbed, which eventually proved correct.

The
next year saw another American expedition on K2. It
was led by Fritz Hermann Ernst Wiessner, a
German-American chemist and mountaineer. The
expedition, along with nine Sherpas, made very good
progress on the already-identified south-east ridge.
Two members and five Sherpas
set up Camp VIII at
about 7711 meters and left one member by the name
of Dudley Wolfe in this camp as he had fallen sick. Wiessner, along with one Sherpa, went up to
approximately 8382 meters. On their way back they
found that Wolfe was short of food. They, therefore,
hurriedly brought him down to camp VII and made him
stay there. They then descended in search of food and
aid but found all camps abandoned until they reached
camp II. Immediately three Sherpas were sent to rescue
Wolfe. They, however, did not return. In this way,
Wolfe and the Sherpas died on the K2. What a tragic
but heroic death.

Another
American attempt on K2 was made in 1953. The
expedition leader was Dr. Charles Houston, who had
also led the 1938 American expedition on this peak.
Dr. Houston, a doctor and professor, is noted for his
contribution to research on the effects of high
altitude on human body and diseases originating from
such effects. One Pakistani, late Colonel M. Ataullah,
Vice President, Karakoram Club of Pakistan,
accompanied the party. This time the party took
porters from Hunza instead of Sherpas from Nepal. As
against the previous expeditions, which entered
Baltistan from Srinagar (in the Indian occupied
Kashmir) through a very long route, the party flew
into Skardu and then adopted the traditional route to
K2 over Baltoro glacier.

It
was at Camp VIII, at about 7772 meters that the party was hit by a blizzard
which lasted many days. On the 7th of August one member, Arthur Gilkey, developed thrombophlebitis. In view of
his serious condition it was decided to start descent
in spite of bad weather. At the end of the day, the
party was involved in a "fall on a steep slope as
a result of a slip and tangling of ropes".
Luckily nobody was seriously injured. Subsequently all
members assembled at the nearby camp VII. Gilkey was
secured on the snow slope with two ice axes until a
party could be mustered to bring him across the slope
to the camp. However, when three members of the party
returned to Gilkey, they found that he had been swept
away by an avalanche. It took rest of the party five
hard days to reach the base camp. On reaching there,
the party immediately started for Skardu because one of the
members,
George Bell, had
very bad frost-bitten feet. In spite of their very best
efforts, the Americans could not climb K2 from the
south-east ridge.

In
1954, an Italian expedition came to Pakistan to try
its luck on K2. It consisted of twelve climbers and
four scientists and was led by veteran mountaineer,
Professor Ardito Desio, who had come to these
mountains with Italian expeditions before the World
War II. Colonel M. Ataullah and Arshad Munir
accompanied the expedition from Karakoram Club of
Pakistan. Captain (later Lt. General) G.S. Butt was
the liaison officer.

Poor
weather hindered the progress of the party for a pretty
long time. As soon as the weather cleared, the party
made very good progress and set up camp II. It was at
this camp that one of its members, Mario Puchoz, a
36-year old guide, died of pneumonia on the 21st June.
It Is believed that he had contracted high altitude
pulmonary oedema (water on the lungs) which was not
well known at the time and does not respond to
antibiotics.

The
party established six more camps on the south-east
ridge. Camp IX was a bivouac. On the 31st of July, Lino
Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni started from the
bivouac. They continued their assault and reached the
summit at six in the evening. After staying for a
while they started descending and reached Camp VIII
round about eleven at night. In
this way the saga of K2 ended.